What Is the Internet?

How Does the Internet Work?

• The History of the Internet
• What Kinds of Information are Available?
• How Do People Use the Internet?
• The Sum of Many Parts

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It seems like everyone's talking about the Internet these days. But what is it really? How does it work? How do you access it? And most important, what can it do for you at work or at home?

Fortunately, accessing and using the Internet is fairly simple. Let this tutorial be your guide to the Internet as you connect for the first time and explore the network's vast and useful resources.

How Does the Internet Work?

The Internet is a worldwide collection of computer networks, cooperating with each other to exchange data using a common software standard. Through telephone wires and satellite links, Internet users can share information in a variety of forms. The size, scope and design of the Internet allows users to:

• connect easily through ordinary personal computers and local phone numbers;
• exchange electronic mail (E-mail) with friends and colleagues with accounts on the Internet;
• post information for others to access, and update it frequently;
• access multimedia information that includes sound, photographic images and even video; and
• access diverse perspectives from around the world.

An additional attribute of the Internet is that it lacks a central authority—in other words, there is no "Internet, Inc." that controls the Internet. Beyond the various governing boards that work to establish policies and standards, the Internet is bound by few rules and answers to no single organization.

In February 1996, President Clinton signed into law the Communications Decency Act, which provides criminal penalties for those who post or transmit "indecent" material via the Internet. This law, however, has been challenged in U.S. courts by those who feel it would unfairly prohibit many legitimate uses of the Internet, and was ruled unconstitutional in July 1996. The federal government, however, is preparing an appeal. For the latest status of the CDA, go to http://www.eff.org/ or http://www.fcc.gov/telecom.html.

The History of the Internet

Many people think that the Internet is a recent innovation, when in fact the essence of it has been around for over a quarter century. The Internet began as ARPAnet, a U.S. Department of Defense project to create a nationwide computer network that would continue to function even if a large portion of it were destroyed in a nuclear war or natural disaster.

During the next two decades, the network that evolved was used primarily by academic institutions, scientists and the government for research and communications. The appeal of the Internet to these bodies was obvious, as it allowed disparate institutions to connect to each others' computing systems and databases, as well as share data via E-mail.

The nature of the Internet changed abruptly in 1992, when the U.S. government began pulling out of network management, and commercial entities offered Internet access to the general public for the first time. This change in focus marked the beginning of the Internet's astonishing expansion.

According to a survey conducted by CommerceNet and Nielsen Media Research in early 1997, nearly one out of every four Americans over the age of 16 is an Internet user. And the number of users worldwide is believed to be well into the tens of millions. Other statistics are equally startling:

• A CNN report stated that Internet traffic in 1996 was 25 times what it was just two years earlier.
• The market research group IntelliQuest pegged the number of Internet users in the U.S. in late 1996 at 47 million - a 34 percent increase over the first quarter of that year.
• According to IBM, 146 countries currently have at least some level of Internet access.
• The technology research firm IDG estimates that by century's end, one billion people worldwide will have access to personal computers—more than doubling the computer-savvy population of 1996.

The Internet explosion coincides with the advent of increasingly powerful yet reasonably priced personal computers with easy-to-use graphical operating systems. The result has been an attraction of recent computer "converts" to the network, and new possibilities for exploiting a wealth of multimedia capabilities.

For further details on the Internet's history, go to http://www.internetvalley.com/intval.html

What Kinds of Information are Available?

In addition to text documents, the Internet makes available graphics files (digitized photographs and artwork), and even files that contain digitized sound and video. Through the Internet, you can download software, participate in interactive forums where users post and respond to public messages, and even join "chats," in which you and other users type (and, in some cases, speak) messages that are received by the chat participants instantly.

How Do People Use the Internet?

Obviously, the Internet can bring you a whole host of capabilities. But how can they be put to practical use?

Among the ways that users like yourself are taking advantage of the Internet are:

• Sharing research and business data among colleagues and like-minded individuals.
• Communicating with others and transmitting files via E-mail.
• Requesting and providing assistance with problems and questions.
• Marketing and publicizing products and services.
• Gathering valuable feedback and suggestions from customers and business partners.

The Internet's potential is limited only by users' vision and creativity. And as the Internet grows, new and innovative uses will surely follow.

The Sum of Many Parts

Unlike many computer networks, the Internet consists of not one but multiple data systems that were developed independently. The most popular and important systems are:

• E-mail, for exchange of electronic mail messages.
• USENET newsgroups, for posting and responding to public "bulletin board" messages.
• File Transfer Protocol (FTP), a system for storing and retrieving data files on large computer systems.
• Gopher, a method of searching for various text-based Internet resources (largely obsolete).
• TELNET, a way of connecting directly to computer systems on the Internet.
• Internet Relay Chat (IRC), a system for sending public and private messages to other users in "real time"—that is, your message appears on the recipient's screen as soon as you type it.
• CU-SeeMe, a videoconferencing system that allows users to send and receive sound and pictures simultaneously over the Internet.
• The World Wide Web.

Source:http://www.centerspan.org/tutorial/net.htm

Technology and the Internet

In the 10 years since Internet Explorer was first released as an add-on for Windows 95, the Internet landscape has changed in many ways — maturing from an environment populated mainly by the military, academia and professional research groups into a world open to everybody in which sound, movement, and dynamic content is the norm.

It is difficult to underestimate the change that easy and widespread access to the Internet has made to our way of life. "The Web" is now so popular it has permeated our everyday life, changing how we stay in touch, share information, complete chores, and even earn an income. A whole new industry has sprung up dedicated to providing new ways to improve productivity, in the process changing how we communicate and allowing us to fit ever more into our ever busier lives.

When we think of the Internet, and how it has changed our lives, the first things that come to mind for many are e-mail, Internet banking, and online shopping. But there is so much more than that. As part of preparing for this column, I had a look at all of computers in my home, old and new, to see what we had installed over time.

Over the years my family and I have used an amazing array of programs as part of our day to day life including flight trackers when any of us are traveling, scrolling stock tickers to monitor our investments, online news and weather alerts and e-mail subscriptions. I also found quite a few instant messenger programs including ICQ, Microsoft MSN, AOL, Trillian, Yahoo Messenger, and Google Talk.

An amazing variety of technology has been inspired by, and is dependent upon, the Internet

Sharing and finding information

The popularity and accessibility of the Internet has been the driving force behind many improvements and new technologies. Even technologies that were around for a long time before the Net went mainstream have benefited from its explosion in popularity.

Take RSS (Really Simple Syndication) for example. This technology has been around since 1999 but has only become popular over the past few years. RSS is a way of subscribing to a special type of Web page. Using an intermediary called an Aggregator, these special Web pages can be automatically scanned for updates. Whereas once it was primarily popular amongst Web Bloggers, RSS is now seen on all sorts of Web sites. RSS is especially useful with high content Web sites such as news sites allowing us to quickly scan all articles, downloading only that which is of interest.

RSS makes it easy to wade through a lot of information very quickly

Another technology that has become popular in very recent times is podcasting, which is a way for users to subscribe to audio syndications on the net. An early adopter of this way of distributing audio content was Web radio. If you would like to check out this technology, Podcast.net provides a comprehensive list of podcasters. A good example of user friendly podcasting is http://www.cbc.ca/podcasting/.

Blogging is a global phenomenon. It has been around since the mid-1990s, but again didn't become popular until the Internet expanded its reach and influence. Blogging is an individual's online public commentary on whatever takes their interest on a particular day. The features that make a Blog different to a standard Web page are that it is possible to comment on a particular entry; Blogs can be subscribed to (most often using RSS) and Blogs can cross-reference each other using trackbacks.

Microsoft, and its employees, lead the way when it comes to blogging

Staying in touch

We used to write letters to stay in touch with those far away, and if our correspondent was very special, we would use our trusty film camera to take some photos before taking the resultant film to the camera shop for developing — waiting anywhere from an hour to a week to get the prints. We'd then hand over the cash, go home, put everything in the envelope, stick a stamp on it and post it off.

Nowadays, we grab our digital camera, take as many shots as we want, upload them directly on to our PCs, attach a copy to an e-mail and send it off into the ether. No more developing charges, no more postage. A whole industry has sprung up around digital cameras and the Internet which encompasses services as diverse as the online Kodak EasyShare Gallery, Google's Picassa, and the Photo Gallery on MSN Spaces, all of which are accessed through a Web browser. As digital cameras have become more popular online printing services have come to be. We can store, share, and order prints for our photographs from the same service.

I remember when I was still in Primary School, my father was lucky enough to spend a year working on an island near Antarctica. Back then, the only contact that was possible with loved ones was an occasional letter or very limited telex, limited radio phone time, or the exchange of cassette recordings that traveled back and forth by ship. Thanks to Satellite Internet access and other new technologies, current residents on the island have Web cams so that their families can see them, and the island on which they are living. That is very different to my father's day. When he stepped off the ship in Melbourne on his return, the only person that recognized him was my younger sister.

The popularity of the Internet and Web browsing led to a pre-existent service known as IRC (Internet Relay Chat), which first came into being back in 1998, being reinvented and extended into an easier to use instant messaging client.

Unlike IRC, instant messaging clients are not plain text only. One of the forerunners of this new style of service was ICQ, released in 1996. ICQ was later joined by AOL's AIM chat client in 1997, Yahoo Messenger in June 1999, MSN Messenger a month later, and Trillian in 2000. Over time, these services have matured, adding new features and abilities such as voice chat and video. Some of the chat services are also accessible via our Web browser (for example MSN Messenger and AIM both have online access services that duplicate their chat clients in a browser window).

In recent years, VOIP (Voice over IP) has started to gain a foothold. This service allows us to make telephone calls over the Internet, often at significant cost saving. Computers fitted with a microphone and speaker have been the traditional way to use VOIP. Nowadays we have VOIP desktop telephones and entire business communication networks using the VOIP protocol Programme such as Skype, and Google Talk (which combines email, chat and a Jabber based VOIP into one program) are making VOIP easily accessible to anyone with a computer, microphone and speakers.

Doing business

The Internet and Web browsers have become an essential tool for business. For example, on a daily basis I use Outlook Web Access to remotely access my e-mail and calendar. When I am at home, I use a browser-based Web console to remotely manage anti-spyware and anti-virus protection on my networked PCs. Then, I may fire up Groove Virtual Office or access a SharePoint server for some remote collaboration. For live, interactive meetings I may use hosted Web conferencing such as Live Meeting. As an IT Pro, I can use Windows XP's Remote Desktop or NetMeeting to access other PCs in the office without having to run from floor to floor.

It was only natural that as the Internet became more widespread, and businesses became more dependent upon it, that a need would arise for road warriors to find new ways to stay in touch. So started the era of the PDA then the Smart Phone. Internet Cafés began to appear as well as wireless hotspots.

I realized just how far we have progressed when I traveled to Seattle recently. I was able to sit in the middle of an airport in Australia that has no public Internet access, plug a matchbox sized USB wireless broadband modem into the side of my laptop and surf the net just like at home. Alternatively, I can access a wireless hotspot simply by entering my mobile phone number into a log in screen in my Web browser, wait for an SMS message with my authorization code and then start surfing the Web. I've never liked using Internet Cafés because of the risk of keyloggers or other nasties, so the ever growing hotspot network is a welcome change.

I wonder what the future holds for us and the Internet, and where we will be in another five years time. If services like Google Earth are anything to go by, the future is going to be pretty amazing stuff.

Source:http://www.microsoft.com/windows/ie/community/columns/technologyinternet.mspx

Using Other Internet Features

E-mail

• USENET Newsgroups
• Electronic Mailing Lists
• Internet Relay Chat (IRC)
• Virtual Reality

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In an astonishingly short time frame, the World Wide Web has become the outstanding component of the Internet. However, you will also find useful other aspects of the Net—namely E-mail and USENET newsgroups.

E-mail

E-mail is the method through which you can send messages to other Net users. Your online service should provide you with E-mail capabilities; if you have questions concerning the operation of your E-mail system, contact your service's customer support, or consult your user's guide or other documentation.

How to Address Other Internet Users

If you use an online service such as America Online, you may be accustomed to addressing E-mail to fellow member John Doe simply by using his AOL user name, "JDoe." But if you were on another service provider and wanted to send E-mail to John Doe, you would have to address the message properly in order for it to transverse the Internet.

Internet addresses always follow this format:

username@domain.top-domain

"Username" is, of course, the user name of the person holding the account. "Domain" refers to the name of the computer that holds the user's account (usually a close match to the service name).

"Top-domain" refers to the top-level domain name, indicating the nature of the computer system containing the account. The following are the common top-level domain names in the United States:

• com - Business and commercial interests
• edu - Universities and other educational institutions
• gov - State and federal government
• mil - Military systems
• net - Special Internet systems
• org - Nonprofit and other organizations

Following this protocol, John Doe's Internet address on America Online would be "jdoe@aol.com," where "jdoe" is the user name, "aol" is the domain name, and "com" is the top-domain name.

Try it! In the form field below, type the E-mail address of Dr. Amy Smith, a user whose user name is "asmith," and who has an account with an Internet service provider whose domain is "networld" and whose top-domain name is "org." Then click on "Go!"

Internet top domains outside the U.S. contain an extra two-letter extension indicating the country of origin. If John Doe had an account on the Websys service provider in Toronto, Ontario, for instance, his address would be "jdoe@websys.ca," in which "ca" is the two-letter designation for Canada. More information on international top-level domain designations appears in the section "The 'Net Around the World."

E-Mail Etiquette

Because of the high potential for misunderstanding the intent of an E-mail message, you should be aware of the following points of "netiquette" when communicating via E-mail:

• Follow the conventions for standard business writing. The immediacy of E-mail makes it tempting to treat it as highly informal—leading to uses of sarcasm and flippancy that can be misinterpreted as sheer mean-spiritedness. Take care in composing your responses, in terms of both mechanics and tone. And when engaging in business correspondence, avoid the following "netisms":
  • "Smilies," or punctuation that, when viewed sideways, resembles a facial expression (i.e., :-) is a smile).
  • Acronyms such as (grin), (in my honest/humble opinion), and (rolling on the floor laughing).
  • Pseudo HTML ( )
• Don't assume that your E-mail messages are private. Because E-mail travels a complex path through the Net before reaching its destination, the chance of messages being intercepted and read by unintended persons does exist. Also, your addressee may assign another individual to read his or her incoming E-mail. If you want to transmit confidential information over the Net, first encode it using encryption software (some of which can be downloaded from the Net at little or no cost to you; see the "Links" section of the tutorial), and send the password to the addressee under separate cover, preferably in a medium other than E-mail.
• Don't assume that your E-mail messages will be read and acted on immediately. There may be a significant lag between the time you send an E-mail message and a) the time it arrives at the recipient's service provider, and b) the time the recipient reads it. Slow and busy gateways can impede the transmission of E-mail messages, often by several hours; messages sometimes even get lost en route. And once a message arrives, it might become part of the recipient's large backlog of unread messages. And occasionally, the recipient might have trouble logging on to the access provider.
  
  Be patient when expecting a response to an E-mail message, though send a follow-up if you don't hear any word within a reasonable time. And if you need to send time-critical information, you may be better served using another medium, such as the phone or express mail.
• Do not send unsolicited E-mail, particularly commercial mass mailings. Known as "spamming" (named after a redundant chant used in a Monty Python skit), mass E-mailing is considered a grave faux pas in the Internet world. There is no law against spamming (a situation that may soon change), but enough users might complain to your service provider about the spamming that the provider may feel obligated to suspend or even cancel your account. By the same token, if you receive unsolicited E-mail that is offensive or harassing, report it to your service provider.
• When writing, do not type in ALL CAPS. Type that appears in all capital letters is considered shouting by Internet standards, and is therefore viewed as vulgar. If you want to emphasize a word or phrase and are not able to use italics or underlining, highlight it in *asterisks*.

USENET Newsgroups

USENET newsgroups constitute the Internet's system of "bulletin board" posting and response. Unlike E-mail, in which messages are intended to be read only by the recipient, USENET newsgroup messages can be read by anyone participating in the newsgroup. Most newsgroups function as discussion groups, whereby people post and respond to public messages, though some contain "binaries," or specially encoded files containing downloadable graphic images or application software.

Newsgroups are categorized by topic, and most are accessible to anyone who has an account with a participating Internet service provider, as well as the proper software (some Web browsers such as Netscape double as newsgroup "readers," and most of the commercial online services allow for newsgroup access as well). The names of individual newsgroups appear as a series of words or word fragments separated by periods; reading from left to right, the words indicate a hierarchy from the broad to the specific. A newsgroup name of "comp.systems.mac.d," for instance, translates into "a discussion group concerning Macintosh computer systems."

Although the vast majority of newsgroups allow users to post unrestricted, many are "moderated," meaning that a person or group monitors postings and either blocks or deletes postings it deems inappropriate or irrelevant to the newsgroup's stated topic. Moderated newsgroups typically prohibit any type of advertisements, though exceptions may be made for items of special interest to the group. Some groups even automatically reject posts that are "cross-posted," or addressed to more than one group, assuming them to be spam. In general, moderated newsgroups are considered to be of higher quality than unmoderated groups, because the discussions are kept focused, and participants don't have to sift through dozens of irrelevant posts. Moderators, though, are sometimes accused of being heavy-handed in their decisions, and their decisions are often fuel for controversy within groups.

Currently, there are about 20,000 active newsgroups on the Net, with new ones being added nearly every day. Most of the major access providers offer newsgroup access. However, your service provider might not carry all available newsgroups, as some opt not to carry newsgroups containing pornographic or potentially illegal material, or topics of extremely narrow interest.

Newsgroup Etiquette

As with E-mail, newsgroups follow their own set of unwritten rules for posting and responding to messages. The following are a few of the general points:

• Think carefully before you post. Remember that anything you post to a newsgroup might be read by thousands of users from all over the world. Additionally, newsgroup postings can be archived for years, making it tough to take back something you posted in the heat of anger or passion.
• Don't post unless you have something important to contribute to a discussion. Nothing irks newsgroup participants more than having to wade through dozens of responses that say little more than "Me too," or "I agree."
• Get to know a newsgroup before posting. Many newsgroups have their own rules of etiquette, and the only way to learn them is to spend time reading the newsgroups' messages. What is permissible in one newsgroup might be strictly taboo in another. The posting of commercial advertisements is a point of contention within the newsgroup community; most newsgroups either frown on or prohibit outright the posting of ads, while other newsgroups consist almost entirely of advertisements.
• Keep your messages appropriate to the newsgroup. Some newsgroups have moderators who work to keep the newsgroups "on topic," but most do not, and rely on the participants to limit their discussions to the topic at hand.
• Look for the FAQs. In order to avoid excessive repetition of basic questions and answers, many newsgroups maintain a FAQ (frequently asked questions) file. Typically, the FAQs are kept available at an FTP or Web site; they may also be posted on the newsgroups themselves periodically. If you have a "beginner's question," you'll get your best answer from the FAQ.
• Avoid getting caught up in a "flame war," or an exchange of insults between users. The lack of accountability on the Internet encourages an unfortunate amount of irresponsible and ignorant behavior... but you don't have to be a part of it. Flaming is a waste of everyone's time. Instead, focus on treating fellow users and their ideas with respect, just as you would like to be treated.

The penalties for violating newsgroup etiquette are similar to those for the more serious E-mail transgressions. If enough people complain about your conduct to your service provider, your account could be suspended or even canceled.

Electronic Mailing Lists

Commonly referred to as listservs, electronic mailing lists provide a method for groups of Internet users with similar interests to correspond with one another and post messages publicly, not unlike a newsgroup. The distinguishing characteristic of listservs, however, is that they are totally accessible through ordinary E-mail; therefore, a user with Internet E-mail access but no other capabilities can participate in a listserv.

You can subscribe to a listserv by sending an E-mail message to the list's administrative address (usually separate from its submission address, which is used to post messages). Precise subscription instructions vary, but in most cases, sending a message with nothing in the body copy but subscribe list John Doe (where "list" is the name of the listserv and "John Doe" is your name) will suffice. Similarly, you can also remove your name from a mailing list (you should receive instructions explaining how to do this once your name has been added).

Once your name has been included in a listserv, you will receive messages posted to the listserv in your regular E-mail. When you reply to a message, the reply will be sent to the listserv E-mail address, and not to the address of the original author (unless you specify otherwise, using your E-mail software). Likewise, when posting a new message, make sure you send it to the correct listserv E-mail address.

In general, the rules of etiquette for general E-mail and newsgroups also apply to listservs; stick to the topic of the listserv, and avoid redundant posts such as "Me too" and "I agree" responses (you'll see soon enough how trivial posts can clutter up one's electronic mail box!). Many listservs are moderated, so that only important and informative posts are forwarded to subscribers.

Directories of electronic mailing lists on varying topics, complete with subscription instructions, are available on the Web at the following sites:

• http://www.neosoft.com/internet/paml/
• http://www.lsoft.com/lists/listref.html
• http://www.liszt.com/

Medically-oriented mailing lists may be found in Medical Matrix (http://www.medmatrix.org/) under the various specialty topics.

Internet Relay Chat (IRC)

Internet Relay Chat was developed in Finland in 1988, and allows multiple Internet users (or "clients") to enter a "channel," or a virtual meeting place on an IRC server computer, and type instantaneous messages to one another. Unlike USENET newsgroups or E-mail, IRC chatting allows users to carry on real-time, two-way or group "conversations."

The major IRC servers carry chat channels (the names of which are prefaced by a "#" symbol) on a wide variety of topics, but you can often create your own channels if the current selections don't please you, or if you want to hold a limited chat with invited guests. On an IRC channel, users can post messages that everyone connected to the channel can read, or they can send private messages to specific individuals.

To protect their privacy (as well as to add an element of fun to the chat), users can create and change nicknames for themselves. Nicknames should be unique to prevent confusion among participants in a chat. Some chat channels and servers require users to register their nicknames in a nickserv, or a standing list of nicknames; systems that require this will have information on how to register nicknames.

If you have used the chat rooms on America Online or another online service, you will see the similarities between those systems and IRC immediately. IRC, however, uses arcane commands that can be daunting even for experienced users; therefore, a sophisticated IRC client program with a user-friendly interface takes the difficulty out of IRC and lets you concentrate on your chats instead of commands. See the "Links" section for Web addresses for downloading IRC software.

Be aware that the proprietary chat systems of most online services were developed independently of IRC and are not part of the IRC network. If you are a member of one of these services and are not sure if or how you can participate in IRC through your service, contact the service's customer support.

To learn more about IRC, and to get lists of IRC servers and downloadable IRC clients, go to http://www.kei.com/irc.html Many regular IRC channels have their own Web pages, so you can search the Web for chat topics that might interest you.

Virtual Reality

When the World Wide Web made possible the convergence of text and graphics online, the effect was revolutionary. Now, many programmers and developers are working to take the Web one step further with technologies that allow users to navigate three-dimensional environments. An environment that so immerses a user in cyberspace is called virtual reality, or a virtual world.

A number of languages and protocols are being used to create virtual worlds, but the most popular is Virtual Reality Modeling Language (VRML), which allows a virtual environment to be accessed through a properly configured Web browser. VRML plug-ins are available for Netscape Navigator and Microsoft Internet Explorer; other browsers designed especially for VRML are also available.

Virtual reality can be used to help users navigate a complex Web site, or to interact with other users using avatars , or 3D characters that the user can define and manipulate. So far most virtual worlds have been limited to games, navigation maps and 3D chat rooms, though the possibilities for virtual worlds continue to expand with better browsers and virtual reality development tools.

For more information on virtual reality and VRML, visit the VRML Repository at http://www.sdsc.edu/vrml/

Source:http://www.centerspan.org/tutorial/other.htm

The 'Net Around the World

In this section...

• Locating an Internet Access Provider Outside the U.S.
• International Top-Level Domain Names
• Where the Internet is Not Welcome

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Locating an Internet Access Provider Outside the U.S.

If you live outside the U.S. and want to find an access provider in your home country, go to Mecklermedia's "The List" (http://www.thelist.com/), where you will be able to search databases of international access providers by name, geographic location and area code. Areas not served by local systems may be served by NetSat Express (http://www.netsatx.net/), a service that connects users to the Internet via satellite; call 516-231-4422 for exact services and rates.

Some U.S. ISPs also serve parts of Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, so persons living in those regions may be able to get local access through a U.S. provider.

International Top-Level Domain Names

International top-level domain names appear as two letters at the ends of Internet addresses, and indicate the country or territory of origin. For instance, the domain "xyz.ca" is Canadian, and the domain "xyz.jp" would be Japanese. Though nearly every sovereign nation has a domain name, that is not a guarantee of a country's Internet capabilities, as those are subject to current technical conditions and political situations.

For a complete listing of all the names available, go to http://www.ee.ic.ac.uk/misc/country-codes.html.

Where the Internet is Not Welcome

Not all countries are enthusiastically embracing the information superhighway. Indeed, many nations are considering or have implemented strict laws regulating who can go online and for what purpose. Some governments have banned Internet access altogether.

Among the governments working most vigorously to forbid or sharply curtail Internet privileges for its citizens are China, Cuba, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Singapore, Vietnam and many of the Persian Gulf states. Even nations that otherwise support democracy and free speech have taken steps to regulate online content (in attempts, for instance, to censor pornography and "hate speech," or to prevent the spread of classified government information).

For the latest news regarding international Net regulations and censorship, visit the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Plague of Freedom page at http://www.eff.org/~declan/global/.

source:http://www.centerspan.org/tutorial/domain.htm

Internet security

When a computer connects to a network and begins communicating with others, it is taking a risk. Internet security involves the protection of a computer's internet account and files from intrusion of an outside user.^[1] Basic security measures involve protection by well selected passwords, change of file permissions and back up of computer's data.

Security concerns are in some ways peripheral to normal business working, but serve to highlight just how important it is that business users feel confident when using IT systems. Security will probably always be high on the IT agenda simply because cyber criminals know that a successful attack is very profitable. This means they will always strive to find new ways to circumvent IT security, and users will consequently need to be continually vigilant. Whenever decisions need to be made about how to enhance a system, security will need to be held uppermost among its requirements.

Internet security professionals should be fluent in the four major aspects:

• Penetration testing
• Intrusion Detection
• Incidence Response
• Legal / Audit Compliance

Contents 1 Details of routers 2 Firewalls 3 Anti-virus 4 Anti-spyware 5 Browser choice 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

Details of routers

Network Address Translation (NAT) typically has the effect of preventing connections from being established inbound into a computer, whilst permitting connections out. For a small home network, software NAT can be used on the computer with the Internet connection, providing similar behaviour to a router and similar levels of security, but for a lower cost and lower complexity.

Firewalls

A firewall is a software program that has the ability to block any unauthorised ports on the computer. Firewalls are set up to record data of connection details.^[2] There are three different types of firewalls. A stateful firewall is a more secure form of firewall, and system administrators often combine a proxy firewall with a packet-filtering firewall to create a highly secure system. Most home users use a software firewall. These types of firewalls can create a log file where it records all the connection details (including connection attempts) with the PC.

Anti-virus

Programs can be made to help your computer, but some users can also create programs with intentions of destroying the computers data by being deceptive. Such things like this are known as Trojan horses, worms, viruses and spyware.

• Trojan horses are programs which pretend to do one thing, but in reality snoops out your personal data, or can end up damaging it. These types conceal their identity or true intentions and are usually quite hard to detect.

• Worms are programs which are able to replicate themselves over a computer network and in turn perform malicious actions. As a result it has the ability to affect other programs on the computer.

• Viruses are programs which are able to log into the personal files on a computer it has affected and as a result, can end up removing all of them. It can have serious side effects on a computers system.

• Malware can be classified as trojans with a limited payload and are often not detected by most antivirus software. They may require the use of other software designed to detect other classes of malware, including spyware.

Software programs such as antivirus software are the most useful in protecting your computer from harmful viruses. These programs are used to detect and eliminate viruses. Anti-virus software can be purchased from any software vendor or downloaded off the internet. Care should be taken in the selection of anti-virus software, as some programs are not very affective in finding and eliminating viruses or malware. Also, when downloading anti-virus software from the Internet, one should be cautioned that some websites say they are providing protection from viruses with their software, but they are really trying to install malware on your computer by disguising it as something else.

Anti-spyware

There are two major kinds of threats in relation to spyware:

Spyware itself, is when so called “free” software is downloaded by the user. However this spyware conceals its real intentions. Spyware collects and relays data of the computer to the manufacturer, and continues to do so even if the program is never used.

Adware is simply those annoying pop-ups which constantly advertise things. These programs secretly install themselves on your computer files and are stuck there until the computer system is cleaned up.

Browser choice

Internet Explorer is the most popular and most widely used web browser in the world. As a result of this, it’s the prime target for phishing and other possible attacks. However, Mozilla Firefox is now too becoming a popular choice for online browsing, and may soon see more attacks specifically aimed at that browser.

See also

• Avast
• AVG Anti-Virus
• Computer security
• Identity Driven Networking
• Network security policy

References

1. ^ Riding the Internet Highway. Fisher, S. 1993
2. ^ Privacy Protection and Computer Forensics. Caloyannides, M. 2004

External links

• Internet Security Concepts - Presentations showing everything from how to secure a home system, to multi-factor authentication, encryption, social engineering, and advanced topics like XSS, IDS and SSL Certificate Hijacking.
• Wireless Safety - Up to date info on the latest security threats, top news stories, and step by step tutorials on how to best protect yourself and family or organization.
• Broadband Reports - FAQs and forums on internet security etc
• PasswordMaker and PwdHash - Firefox & IE browser extensions that transparently converts a user's password into a domain-specific password.
• FoxyProxy - Firefox proxy extension
• Internet security - by JC & Goio (security programs).
• The Internet and Data Security Guide - A to Z Glossary of terms

source:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_security